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The council took action on the issue after Buddy Helton, commission chairman for the Central St. Landry Economic District, told council members during a public hearing on Wednesday night that the commission favored withdrawing the ordinance.

Helton said the commission decided to ask the council to rescind the ordinance proposal after commission members met with businessmen and owners of the hotels and motels.

Helton said in an interview that the commission anticipated receiving about $90,000 annually if the hotel and motel sales and occupancy tax had been approved by the council.

During a Sept. 6 meeting, the council approved another ordinance designed to expand the economic district. That consent allows the commission to collect an extra 1-cent sales tax for items sold at selected businesses along a strip of Interstate 49 between Guilbeau Road and U.S. Highway 190, which runs through sections of Opelousas.

A separate ordinance, which proposed collecting the 1-cent sales tax for hotels and motels, was also scheduled for consideration by the council at the Sept. 6 meeting.

That proposal, however, was met with stiff opposition by some hotel and motel owners who said that the extra sales and occupancy taxes would cause them to become less competitive.

Robert Bordelon, an attorney for the hotel and motel owners, told the council that increasing the sales and occupancy tax by a cent would raise the current rates of rooms to 18.75 percent.

Council member Harold Taylor said during the Sept. 6 meeting that his personal research shows it is already costs about $44 more per night in Opelousas than it does in a similar room in Lafayette.